On July 15, 2016, a section of the Turkish military launched an operation in several of its own cities in an attempt to take over the government. This attempted coup failed very quickly.
\nThe next day, after 290 civilian deaths, the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, declared a state of\u00a0emergency which led to the arrest of 50,000 suspects. Today, barely a year later, the people of Turkey still wonder about the future of their country. And so does Brandon Reynolds.
\nBrandon and his family attend Grace Oviedo. Any given Sunday he can be seen on stage with the worship band, in graceKIDS, or running the sound boards. His day job as a software\u00a0engineer first took him to Turkey in 2007, and in 2013 he went back on a missions trip through his\u00a0hometown church in Akron, Ohio.
\nThat church, Missionview, supports a church plant in Antalya, Turkey, which is pastored by a good friend of Brandon\u2019s, Ramazan.
\nIn April of this year, Brandon led a group of missionaries back to Antalya. During this trip, Brandon and his team planned on simply ministering to their brothers and sisters in a \u201cpolitically tumultuous\u201d country the way Paul longed to minister to the Romans \u2014 just by being with them.
\nGod had bigger, better plans. As soon as his team arrived in Antalya, they were asked to help finish a new building for the church. \u201cThere was some drywall, painting and cleaning that needed to be done,” he says. “The church was short on volunteers that week, so our efforts were really helpful. Also, we were able to plan and conduct a children\u2019s carnival outreach.\u201d
\nThis work was critically important, because this new church is one of only 100 evangelical churches in all of Turkey. \u201cYour chances are pretty good for finding a chain smoker in Antalya, but not so much for seeing an evangelical Christian,” Brandon reflected from a smoke-filled caf\u00e9 on his last night in the country. “According to Operation World, .008% of the 75 million people here are evangelicals, with about 100 Protestant churches for the whole country. It’s sad to think that this land, which is where many of the early New Testament churches were located, is now virtually unreached. Many Muslims here have never heard the Gospel.\u201d
\nYou read that right: fewer than 600,000 people have heard the gospel in a nation of 75 million people where freedom of religion is legal! Being a missionary to Turkey can be dangerous, but Brandon explains that while they do have laws protecting Islam, \u201cthe Turkish government itself wants to be seen as a nation that tolerates every religion, so they do what they can to protect missionaries.\u201d
\nFor example, while Brandon\u2019s team was in Turkey this past April, they helped open the doors to the new church. The presence of the missionaries gave the church needed coverage and protection. \u201cA few government officials made appearances at the opening ceremony for the church, which brought in the local media. For the next few days, the media published the location and hours of operation for the church.\u201d
\nSending skilled peoples is another benefit of missionary work in the country. \u201cIf a church in Turkey needs a new youth pastor, they can\u2019t simply post an ad or call around,” Brandon says. “They have to find someone in their congregation, develop him, train him, and pray to God and just trust him.\u201d Sending people with teaching skills who can help train these young leaders and teach older leaders how to train younger men and women called into ministry helps tremendously.
\n\u201cOne of our team members was a licensed therapist with a Ph.D. in psychology,” says Brandon. “He was able to provide some training to the pastoral staff and resident missionaries on how to counsel people with depression.\u201d
\nLastly, just being there to support and worship God together with our Turkish brothers and sisters in Christ is itself a need \u2014 no prerequisite experience needed. In Turkey, Christianity is considered to be a religion for rejects, outcasts and the poor. “Just being with them, encouraging their spirits is a huge need,” says Brandon. \u201cHere is the kingdom work that’s happening. If I don’t participate in that, I am missing out in joining God in his mission to accomplish his these things.\u201d
\n\u201cOur situation in Orlando is not normative \u2014 this is not what the rest of the world is experiencing,” says Brandon. “I know we hear about what\u2019s going on in other countries, but we need to face that. When you know someone over there, it becomes much more important and personal\u00a0to you.
\n“While it’s true that money spent in other places, even the United States, could seemingly accomplish more, a situation like the church in Antalya is a valuable place to invest. Imagine you are a wealthy person who is\u00a0going to invest in healthcare for children; you might invest in care that helps the largest number of people instead of curing some rare disease that effects a few. Now, imagine that it’s your child that has the rare disease. God wants us to reach all nations.\u201d
\nSome people are called to be missionaries at home, but some need to consider a bolder choice. \u201cAntalya is quite a beautiful place,\u201d Brandon says, \u201cWhat if you spent your vacation doing God’s work? If you\u2019re going to spend this money anyway, you can see beautiful places you\u2019ve never seen before, and work for the Kingdom. Realistically, being a Christian here in the United States is pretty easy. But the Bible says \u2018to whom much is given, much is expected.\u2019 When we go out, we’re helping other congregations around the world, but when we come back, we have relationships. We become an advocate for our brothers and sisters around the world.”
\nThe smoke in that caf\u00e9 in Turkey was a poignant reminder of the spiritual darkness that covers the land. But the true light is shining and will continue to drive the darkness away. “Let\u2019s not be idle, but let\u2019s put our time, talents and money to work,” says Brandon.<\/p>\n